"Chelsea can still win the league" - Benitez

Furious Chelsea fans turned on Rafael Benitez again after a desperate goalless draw with Fulham.

Supporters chanted ‘we want our Chelsea back’ at the final whistle as the European champions extended their winless league run to six games and slipped seven points behind leaders Manchester United.

Former manager Roberto Di Matteo’s name was sung loudly once more after a dire game in which Fernando Torres stretched his barren run to 10 hours and 49 minutes.

Benitez said: ‘Everybody here is disappointed. We have to give credit to Fulham, who worked hard, but these are the games we have to win. We controlled the game but we still have to score goals.’

It was the first time since September 2007 that the Blues had failed to score in back to back home matches and Benitez became only the second manager under Roman Abramovich to fail to win either of his opening two games. The other was Avram Grant.

But Benitez insisted Chelsea had the quality to overhaul United and Manchester City, who both won again.

‘Why can’t we?’ he said. ‘It’s still a long way to go. We have to keep going. We’ll have chances.

‘Remember last season when City were ahead and it was “easy”. Then they needed to win their last game. It’s a long, long competition.’

Interim manager Benitez acknowledged Chelsea were lacking confidence after a run of two wins in 10 that threatens to wreck their season.

He added: 'The main thing is to win games. If we do, we'll be there and we can win competitions.
"We need to start doing that and the confidence will come back.'